1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an email information providing server that uses the email function of a portable terminal to provide various information services, instead of conventional facsimile (hereinafter referred to as FAX) information services provided by FAX, an email information providing system, an email information providing method and an email information providing program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are FAX information services, provided by FAX, through which various types of information, company information, housing information and traffic information, for example, can be obtained (hereinafter, such information, when provided by FAX, is called FAX information).
To receive the FAX information service, a user accesses a FAX information service providing company by telephone, for example, and receives, by FAX, an indexed listing representing the contents of the FAX information available from the provider (e.g., when the FAX information is housing information, included are the title “housing information” and information as to the location (e.g., a prefecture) to which the housing information is related).
Included in the indexed listing are ID numbers for obtaining corresponding FAX information. Thus, when desired information is provided in an indexed listing that is received, the user again telephones the FAX information service providing company, and by manipulating the telephone push buttons, enters the ID number included in the indexed listing and the telephone number (the FAX number) of the FAX machine that can output the desired FAX information.
Upon receiving the ID number and the FAX number, the FAX information service providing company transmits the FAX information corresponding to the ID number to the FAX machine that is consonant with the received FAX number. And as a result, the desired FAX information is obtained by the user.
Before receiving the FAX information service described above, a user must know what kind of FAX information service providing companies are available and what FAX information services the individual FAX information service providing companies are prepared to provide.
However, since in booklets issued by NTT or in advertisements in other magazines, for example, the spaces allocated for this information are small, what is available by FAX is not well known and FAX information services are infrequently used, even though for these services many kinds of useful FAX information have been prepared.
Further, reception of FAX information is complicated, i.e., as described above, first, the user calls the FAX information service providing company, obtains an indexed listing, telephones again and enters an ID number and a FAX number. Furthermore, since an indexed listing is obtained that initially is not required by the user, an unnecessary communication cost is incurred and paper is wasted.
In order to reduce paper waste, there is a method involving the use of a FAX machine that includes a display unit, such as a liquid crystal screen. That is, using such a FAX machine, when an indexed listing is received it can be viewed using the display unit, rather than being output to paper. However, while taking into account reductions in the sizes and weights of FAX machines and the accompanying costs, display units can not be made large enough to enable the appropriate viewing of indexed listings that have been received. As a result, when an indexed listing is presented on a display unit, individual characters can not easily be distinguished.
Therefore, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1996-336029, a facsimile system is proposed wherein indexed entries representing the contents of FAX information are superimposed with a television broadcast signal for a broadcast performed by a broadcast station, and when, while employing a monitor, a user selects one of the indexed entries and requests, using a public line, that a FAX information service providing company transmit FAX information corresponding to the selected indexed entry, the thus requested FAX information is transmitted to the FAX machine of the user.
However, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1996-336029, as described above, since information obtained by FAX is image information, subsequent actions required to access desired information are rather irksome. For example, a telephone number, output by a FAX machine and printed on paper, must be dialed.
Furthermore, the provision of a FAX information service requires a suitable environment for the installation of a FAX machine. And even when a FAX machine is installed, since the paper Output must be managed, the operation is still very troublesome.
In addition, since the locations whereat FAX information services can be received are limited to those whereat FAX machines are installed, FAX information can not be acquired at arbitrary times, as required.
As a solution for resolving these problems, a technique has been proposed that is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-76711. According to this technique, an arbitrary document form, in which desired information is listed, is created by a user using unspecified word processor, or text editor, software installed in a user terminal, and is transmitted, as email, to a search site at a designated email address to execute a search. Upon receiving the email, the search site uses a translating device to automatically extract a necessary keyword, and uses a search device to perform a search, based on the extracted keyword, and transmits the search results to the user terminal.
However, even though with this technique desired information can be obtained more easily than when the FAX information service proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1996-336029 is resorted to, since the technique disclosed in this publication is based on the assumption that common PCs (personal computers) will be used, locations where desired information is available are limited to those whereat PCs are installed. Thus, a continuing problem is that necessary information can not easily be acquired at an arbitrary time.
Further, when the technique described in the above publication, according to which a free document form is prepared by a user to obtain desired information, is to be employed for a portable terminal, an extremely complicated input operation is required because for a portable terminal, when compared with a common PC (personal computer), the number and sizes of keys are limited to provide a reduced size and weight.